Il ruolo delle comunità nella documentazione digitale e preservazione dello scenario urbano storico: una proposta di approccio inclusivo

The essay describes an approach developed by the author in different international realities in order to make communities aware of the importance of digital documentation and preservation of historical agglomerations, constituted prevalently by vernacular architectures of very high sociocultural value. With this purpose in mind, the concept of historic urban landscape is introduced, which identifies the whole territorial context it is set in, thus going well beyond the simple definition of historic centre and leading to the determination of an ensemble composed of characteristic features such as patterns, spatial organisation, visual relations. Interventions of contemporary architecture at world level, have undermined the urban scenario of many historic sites, marring them with projects out of scale and of dubious quality, for the last two decades. The text deals with the suggestions arisen from years of educational research conducted in extremely lively and mutable environments such as the historic centres of some Asian Countries, with an in-depth study on the case of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. In order to treat this topic the paper presents the feedback results of awareness raising projects developed in different historic centres, including academic cooperation, involvement of professors, researchers, local authorities, professionals and young intellectuals. The research stressed the importance of different visions on the documentation and representation of cultural heritage, which acquires different meanings based on local culture and traditions, in order to define future directions, low cost methodologies and working tools in the field of education for the conservation and enhancement of the historic fabric. The digitalisation techniques, also shared with a less specialised audience, were essential tools for setting up a methodology capable of meeting the main requirements of knowledge and comprehension. The activities and experimentations carried out have identified functional methods for the analysis, representation and diagnostics of vernacular contexts, demonstrating the potential of interdisciplinary activities implemented in fragile but at the same time extremely stimulating environments. The involvement of local communities showed to be a conditio sine qua non to achieve the objective of a shared and more aware preservation of the historic urban landscape.